Yes, a comparatively recent British introduction that is perhaps not present in North America. Or on the market here, at any rate.

http://johngrimshawsgardendiary.blogspot.com/2013/08/red-gurkha-coming-of-age.html

I saw this amazing plant at RHS Wisley outside of London several years ago and have been searching for it ever since. There is a company in Port Townsend called "Far Reaches Farm" that had it for sale, but it is out of stock, and has been for some time. That's a little surprising since they sold it at $45! The only other sources I have ever found were in the UK, but they aren't allowed to ship roots/tubers to the USA. I've not found it in Canadian nurseries either, hoping that they might be able to ship to the US. But so far no luck.

I know of two PNW sources of 'Red Ghurka': Far Reaches Farm (Port Townsend, mail-order) and Windcliff (Indianola, no mail-order, only in person pick-up after setting up an appointment).

Enith - thank you. Windcliff wouldn't work for me since I am in Rhode Island. It seems like I will have to wait for Far Reaches to get it back in stock (and shell out a small fortune for one rhizome!) Only other options would be to keep searching or hop on a plane! Thanks again.

Embothrium - thanks for the info. I will see about waitlists.

By the way, does your name here imply that you are growing Embothrium (or any other members of the Proteaceae family)? I would love to be able to grow even one Protea or a relative, but it's far too cold here in winter.

I am absolutely positive that Windcliff once had this plant for sale for about 60$ as that is where my friend got hers about a year ago. Like Embothrium suggested contact the sellers directly and express your interest in this particular plant. They might have one or two stashed somewhere or at least will put you on a waiting list for it.

A number of Proteaceae will grow here, although most are marginally hardy and may not survive our worst winters. Embothriums are pretty common - my niece has multiple, well-established trees on her Bainbridge Island property and you see them here and there in other places around Kitsap when they are in flower. Hard to mistake for anything else :-)) And Grevilleas are also pretty common as well - I grow several myself.

These two are probably the two hardiest genera. There is actually a mail order nursery located Sequim -Desert Northwest - that features various Proteacaea and a number of other southern hemisphere plants. Ian has been growing these guys for years and is a wealth of information about these plants.

If you search "far reaches red gurkha" a catalog page of theirs comes up with a link to click on to indicate interest in future availability of this item. I didn't do anything to check and see if the page is still active.

Both Far Reaches and Wind-cliff are operated by actual latter day plant explorers that regularly penetrate remote wildernesses (hence, presumably, "Far Reaches") in addition to having associates and contacts in places like Britain from which they get new and rare plants. As mentioned on British supplier web pages the rubra still isn't very prevalent even there, the country to which it was first introduced. So going through some trouble and expense to secure a piece of it here in the US at this time does not seem particularly unexpected. I know of other scarce herbaceous plants that are priced well above $60 each.

Thank you all for the information. I'll keep trying.

It's not necessarily about the price; Lord knows I've bought some very pricey plants for my garden. But this could be a risk here in zone 6B in Southern New England. But I'll see what I can find, and if I have to, I'll bite the bullet and give it a try. I'll report back, either success or fail.